18 Wedding Venues in Washington, DC for 2026 & 2027

Wedding Venues Washington DC // Washington is a city of grand rooms: Gilded Age mansions on Embassy Row, a house museum one block from the White House, rooftops that look out over the monuments. But it also has a riverside winery, a monastery lawn, a hall at Capitol Hill’s 1873 Eastern Market and a mansion above Meridian Hill Park whose rental fees fund the city’s parks.

We checked every venue below on its own website, and the license and permit rules on the official pages. One nice surprise: in D.C. a friend can marry you, or you can marry yourselves.

Written October 2026. Prices and capacities are the ones the venues published at the time; always confirm them when you inquire. Cover photo by Chris Ferenzi, a Washington, D.C. photographer in our community.

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Historic Mansions & Museums

Gilded Age mansions, a Federal-period house museum and a former Masonic temple.

Dumbarton House

GeorgetownUp to 200 guestsIndoor & outdoor

In Georgetown, Dumbarton House has a North Garden, its wall and niche designed in 1932, for ceremonies of up to 200, and the Belle Vue Room, with coffered ceilings and three sets of French doors onto a courtyard that can be tented for dinner and dancing. Seated receptions work best for up to 125 to 150.

You can bring any licensed vendor (the tent company is set) and even your own alcohol with a one-day license. It is taking bookings for 2027; prices are in its wedding brochure.

Meridian House

Meridian HillUp to 150 seatedIndoor & outdoor

Meridian House was designed by John Russell Pope, the architect of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives. Couples marry in the walled west garden, in bloom from late April to mid-October, or in the Linden Grove, a pebbled courtyard under 40 linden trees with a marble fountain. Indoors, the Library and Drawing Room seat up to 150.

Over the front door, a Latin inscription reads “Where happiness dwells, evil will not enter.” It opens 2028 dates in January 2027.

Anderson House

Dupont CircleUp to 130 guestsIndoor & outdoor

Built in 1905 for Larz and Isabel Anderson, Anderson House has a soaring ballroom with a flying marble staircase and a walled garden with a reflecting pool and two of the city’s oldest magnolias. Up to 130 guests can have the ceremony, dinner and dancing here.

Its published rates (no year given) run from $16,000 to $18,000 for an evening, with $2,000 to $3,000 off for ceremony-only, daytime or under-50 weddings.

Decatur House

Lafayette SquareUp to 300 guestsIndoor & outdoor

One block from the White House, Decatur House was finished in 1819, and the White House Historical Association tells its whole history, including the decades when people were enslaved there. Weddings take place in the Carriage House and the brick courtyard, and every weekend rental includes photos in the upstairs parlors with their inlaid floors and painted ceilings.

Its 2027 weekend rates are $8,800 for 8 hours, $9,800 for 10 and $12,500 for a 12-hour exclusive day.

The Whittemore House

Dupont CircleUp to 220 guestsIndoor & outdoor

Home of the Woman’s National Democratic Club, The Whittemore House is an 1890s mansion on the National Register, full of antiques and political memorabilia. Ceremonies happen in its parlors or the Lady Bird Johnson Courtyard Garden, and the ballroom seats about 180 for dinner. Catering, bar and rentals are all in-house.

National Museum of Women in the Arts

DowntownUp to 250 guestsIndoor

The National Museum of Women in the Arts fills a 1908 Masonic temple. Its Great Hall, with three crystal chandeliers and two white marble staircases, seats up to 250 for the ceremony and dinner, and you can hold cocktail hour in a gallery upstairs among the art.

Hotels & Rooftops

Ceremony, dinner and a room upstairs under one roof, with views of the White House, the Potomac and the monuments.

The Hay-Adams

Lafayette SquareUp to 200 guestsIndoorLodging on site

Across Lafayette Square from the White House, The Hay-Adams holds receptions on its top floor, the Top of the Hay, where French doors open onto a balcony with views of the White House and the Washington Monument. It seats up to 200 for dinner.

The Watergate Hotel

Foggy BottomUp to 500 guestsIndoor & outdoorLodging on site

Yes, that Watergate. The Watergate Hotel has a rooftop with 360-degree views over the Potomac and the Washington Monument for up to 350, a grand ballroom for 500 and smaller terraces and rooms. Every package is custom.

The LINE DC

Adams MorganUp to 850 guestsIndoor & outdoorLodging on site

The LINE DC is built into a neoclassical church more than a century old. Its spaces range from the former sanctuary for up to 850 to the Vela rooftop above 18th Street for 225 and a suite for 60, and the menus lean on Chesapeake ingredients. You bring your own florals, lighting and furniture.

Riggs Washington DC

Penn QuarterUp to 120 guestsIndoor & outdoorLodging on site

In a former bank, Riggs has a rooftop room with sliding glass walls and a terrace for weddings of up to 120. Its two-bedroom suite, once the boardroom of “the Bank of Presidents,” still has its original stonework.

Gardens, Parks & Sacred Spaces

The Capitol’s old columns in a meadow, a mansion above Meridian Hill Park, a monastery lawn and the National Cathedral.

U.S. National Arboretum

Northeast DCOutdoor

At the National Arboretum you can marry in front of the National Capitol Columns, sandstone columns that stood on the Capitol’s East Portico from 1828, now set on a knoll beside a 20-acre meadow. Weddings are arranged only through the Friends of the National Arboretum and its caterer, and security stops unapproved “pop-up” ceremonies.

Photographers, note that its photography policy (updated March 2026) rules out photo shoots in wedding attire on the grounds, and drones, so ask exactly what is allowed on your wedding day.

Josephine Butler Parks Center

Meridian HillUp to 300 guestsIndoor & outdoor

Above Meridian Hill Park, Josephine Butler Parks Center is a 40-room Renaissance Revival mansion from 1927 that once housed the embassies of Hungary and Brazil. Ceremonies happen in its South Garden, dinner in the ballroom for up to 150, and the fireplaces can be lit. The nonprofit Washington Parks & People runs it, and your rental fee funds its park programs.

Its 2026 rates: $9,400 for a peak-season Saturday, $6,500 off-season, and brunch weddings from $4,000.

St. Francis Hall

BrooklandUp to 225 guestsIndoor & outdoor

Next to the century-old Franciscan Monastery, St. Francis Hall hosts ceremonies on its private lawn or inside, and the wedding party may use the monastery’s formal gardens for photos (ceremonies there and in the chapel aren’t allowed). Parking, tables, chairs, bistro lights and a baby grand piano are included.

Its rates (no year given) are $14,000 on Saturdays and $10,000 on Fridays and Sundays, with $2,000 off in January and February. Rental fees support the friars.

Washington National Cathedral

Cathedral HeightsCeremony onlyIndoor

You can marry in the nave, the Great Choir or one of the chapels of Washington National Cathedral, on select Saturdays. Cathedral clergy officiate, at least one of you must be baptized, and pre-marital counseling has to be finished three months before.

Neighborhood Halls & Industrial Spaces

Blank-canvas warehouses, a riverfront winery and two Capitol Hill landmarks.

Dock5 at Union Market

Union Market DistrictUp to 400 seatedIndoor

Above Union Market, Dock5 is more than 12,000 square feet of former warehouse with high ceilings, for up to 400 seated or 700 standing: a blank canvas for a big wedding.

District Winery

Navy YardUp to 200 guestsIndoor & outdoor

A working winery on the Anacostia River, District Winery holds ceremonies on a four-season terrace and dinner upstairs, served family-style, for up to 200. All the wine comes from the house, and you can bring your own florist, photographer and band.

Weddings start at $230 per guest, including the bar, dinner, a tasting and a wedding suite.

North Hall at Eastern Market

Capitol HillUp to 200 seatedIndoor & outdoor

Eastern Market has been D.C.’s fresh-food market since 1873, and its North Hall, added in 1908, has vaulted ceilings and tall arched windows. The plaza outside works for the ceremony and cocktails. It is a true blank canvas: bring any licensed caterer and your own tables and chairs.

Its price schedule (dated 2024) lists $5,400 for a Saturday night, plus $800 for the plaza.

Hill Center

Capitol HillUp to 250 indoorsIndoor & outdoor

Lincoln commissioned this naval hospital in 1864, and today Hill Center has ceremony rooms with 14-foot ceilings and 8-foot windows, a garden, a terrace and a plaza, for up to 150 seated inside or 500 using the whole site. You can choose any licensed caterer.

Good To Know Before You Book

Marriage license: you can apply online with the D.C. Superior Court Marriage Bureau. It costs $45, there is no waiting period, and once issued the license doesn’t expire. You both and your officiant must be in D.C. for the ceremony.
Who can marry you: besides clergy and officials, a friend can become a temporary officiant for your wedding ($25), or you can officiate your own wedding.
National Mall: ceremonies need a National Park Service permit ($90 to apply, up to a year ahead). The named sites are the George Mason Memorial near the Jefferson Memorial (up to 100 people) and the DC War Memorial (up to 200); the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials themselves aren’t wedding sites, and no receptions, alcohol or petals are allowed.
Small park ceremonies: Rock Creek Park permits ceremonies of up to 50 people at four sites: Georgetown Waterfront Park, the Old Stone House garden, Montrose Park and Meridian Hill Park ($200, apply a month ahead).
Photos at the monuments: photos during a permitted wedding are covered by its permit. For portraits elsewhere, the Park Service says that small groups of eight or fewer generally need no permit since 2025, but the National Mall’s own page still lists photo fees, so check with its permit office. Some spots are always off-limits, like the Lincoln Memorial above the white marble steps.
Library of Congress: engagement and wedding photos in the Great Hall need a photo-session permit; all 2026 sessions are full and 2027 hasn’t opened yet.

Looking for more ideas? Have a look at our favorite wedding venues in Maryland, Virginia and Richmond.

And when you have found your venue, find the right photographer: browse wedding photographers in Washington, D.C. in our community.

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